The Basics

[TeaDidikai]

So Blue asked. I think at one point we had a thread like this, but if we did- I didn't see it in my initial glance through the old topics.

So let's talk about the basics.

I've always said Grounding, Centering and Shielding/Warding makes up Magic 101.

Nothing listed here is oath bound (most of it was taught by the leader of the Vortex Camp of the OTO to a group of people with vastly different theologies).

Also note I do things a little bit differently than some, and some personal practices have crept in to this as it was ages since I learned this from her and even longer since I had to actually think about it. At this point it is a little hard to tell where what I learned from her begins and what I have of my own tradition ends. I removed titles to make it easier for folks and replaced them with generic- but relatively accurate place holders.

Centering-

My opinion is that before one can "ground" (which in this case is about exchanging earth and sky energy within yourself) you have to be able to center.

See- if you cannot control your own energy, controlling other energy will at best be awkward and clumsy (if it works at all) and at worst- will make you ill.

Centering is about being aware and present to me.

As you're reading this you probably couldn't tell me exactly what was over your right shoulder three feet away without breaking your concentration on what you are reading. (Heck, unless you are in pain, you might have forgotten that you have pinky toes wink )

My personal experience is that with personal awareness of the self comes awareness of that outside of yourself. (Then again, I could be an anomaly)

So- Let's begin.
You might want to take a quick moment to feel where your energy is.

Is it flowing out and filling up the room, waving this way and that?

Now- starting at your toes, notice the tips, the individual toes. As you become aware, draw in the extra energy that is flowing from them so it is just at the place where your toes end and the world around you begins.

Once you have done that, notice the tops and soles of your feet. Become aware of where the energy around them is and draw it back to yourself.

Then notice your ankles. If this is your first time doing things this way, and you aren't used to similar practices, take your time. Speed comes with practice.

Once your energy is drawn to yourself at your ankles, notice your lower shins and calves. Continue to draw the energy to yourself along your knees, thighs, and torso, both front and back.

If you take your time everything should be holding where you drew the energy to. If you feel something slipping, take just a moment to pull it back and continue.

Next start with your finger tips. Continue to become aware of your fingers and draw the energy to yourself. Become aware of your palms and the back of your hands.

Become aware of your wrists and your lower arms, all the while drawing and holding that energy right at the end of the self and the beginning of the "Else".

Continue with your elbows, your upper arms and shoulders, moving on to your chest and upper back. Once your are comfortable, continue to your neck and your chin. Draw the energy close and hold it. Become aware of your face and your scalp, and continue until your aware of the crown of your head and the energy is held close to you.

Once your are able to maintain this- take a moment to become aware of the inside of your head. Place your awareness directly behind your eyes and centered below your crown.

Congrats. Centering 101.

Grounding-

Once you are Centered- the battle is half won.

While Centered, visualize a means of connection stemming from your core. It could be a rod that plunges down into the earth, it could be roots, it could be anything that has meaning to you.

Extend this deep into the dark rich heart of the earth- where the soil is moist and fertile and clean. Draw this rich earth up through the connection to your core and allow it to fill you, held inside your skin. Allow it to circulate at your heart before continuing upwards. Drawing it completely up, allow it to overflow through your crown and fount. As it falls to the ground beside you, allow it to interact with the energy at the surface of you and cleanse through that part of yourself.

Once the fount is established, at your crown become aware of the sky. Either by opening a gate at your crown or by using a silver thread from your crown or other such tools, draw down the Sky through your crown and allow it to circulate with the earth at your heart before allowing it to flow down through where you are connected to the ground and out.

As the Sky flows out, it will return up, combing through the energetic self boundary the way the rich earth did as it returns by falling up to the sky.

When you feel refreshed- allow the sky and the earth connections to close for the time being. Circulate the last of the earth energy up and out while the last of the sky energy flows down and out.

Practice makes perfect and I highly encourage you to find what imagery works best for you.

Shielding
Your centered. Your grounded.

Time to shield.

This is mostly used when amongst strangers or situations where your personal needs do not allow people to take from you what they want.

It can be used as a basic defense against generic unpleasantness and like everything else I have mentioned, it can be adapted. (I have a friend who is so into Star Trek that they use the image of "shields" coming online to represent their shields. I know others who dawn etheric armor.

Beginning at your feet once more- allow a the outer most part of the energy you have centered to sparkle with your protective color. Move up along your legs to your torso and along your arms to your chest as before. Be sure you notice and "sparkle" every inch of yourself. Once your are at your crown, cause that energy to shift from a sparkle to something solid. Cause it to take form as it pleases you.

With practice, maintaining it will be easier. Heck, getting it set up is nearly instant for me now.

Others- feel free to jump in with your own technique and anyone who has questions, please post them.  

[PurpleDragonsGems]

Wow Tea, that is very helpful. I might have to print (or more likely write) this out to practice.  

[TeaDidikai]

Dragon_Witch_Woman

Wow Tea, that is very helpful. I might have to print (or more likely write) this out to practice.

Have fun!  

[patch99329]

These are awesome tea ^_^ I want to try the centering!

I'll post some of my own techniques when I have time. 3nodding  

[TeaDidikai]

patch99329

These are awesome tea ^_^ I want to try the centering!

Happy they are useful.

Someone give me something else to wax on about.  

[patch99329]

M'kay, heres a technique I use for grounding. It's not original, I found it in a book a long time ago. Off the top of my head it goes like this.


Stand with your legs a little way apart. Make sure your weight is distributed evenly.

Relax your body and take some deep breaths. Imagine a gentle wave of energy moving up and down your spine as you breathe. When you are ready, imagine this wave of energy extending down past your tailbone and slowly going down into the ground.

When this energy is a few inches (at least) below the ground, imagine it taking root there, perhaps wrapping round a rock?
Relax your body again, wiggle a little if you like xD.

Tada, grounding!  

[queertastrophy]

Thank you so, so much. heart Can't wait to practice!  

[TatteredAngel]

TeaDidikai

patch99329

These are awesome tea ^_^ I want to try the centering!

Happy they are useful.

Someone give me something else to wax on about.

I adore it when you wax on, Tea. whee How about your thoughts on basic correspondences? Every 101 book I read had some cute set of correspondences of colors and herbs and such, with little explanation of why said things corresponded. How and when should we use correspondences, and where should we get them from?  

[TeaDidikai]

TatteredAngel

TeaDidikai

patch99329

These are awesome tea ^_^ I want to try the centering!

Happy they are useful.

Someone give me something else to wax on about.

I adore it when you wax on, Tea. whee How about your thoughts on basic correspondences? Every 101 book I read had some cute set of correspondences of colors and herbs and such, with little explanation of why said things corresponded. How and when should we use correspondences, and where should we get them from?

This is tricky.

The Greco-Roman Elements with a bit of Kabalistic flair tossed in make up the popular generic elements.

If anything- I would encourage people to look into their path's cosmology.

The Norse Elemental Systems I know are different from the Popular System is different from the primary Asian traditions is a bit different from my path's system.

When it comes to herbs- for me personally the "elemental" nature of said herb has always played a secondary role to the personality of the herb. But then- I'm an animist. Whatcha expect. mrgreen  

[Sivirs]

I like to borrow shielding visuals from stuff I see in movies and RPGs and read in books, whatever seems to me like a good idea and that I can vividly picture.

Without going into details and what I do, I tend to focus on shields that camouflage and hide, rather than going with the big flashy shields of white light you usually see described in 101 books (I'm sure it works for people, but I just can't get past the idea that I'd be all aglow like a big ole beacon of targetness, so it doesn't work for me).  

[Maze]

*eyes Sivirs post*

Can you use shields like that to help camouflage yourself when playing Hide & Seek?  

[Sivirs]

Maze

*eyes Sivirs post*

Can you use shields like that to help camouflage yourself when playing Hide & Seek?

I do go relatively unnoticed when I remember to refresh and recharge (which gets REALLY frustrating when I'm in situations where I NEED to be noticed, but I'm loud enough vocally most of the time to fix that), so I imagine it'd help, yes, but I haven't really tested it - I'm not much of a hide and seek fan. I did once just lie down on the ground in a pile of leaves and take a nap and go unnoticed, and then one time I just got into someone's shower and sat down there and they played like 5 more games without finding me, but that was all before I knew anything about shielding, so unless I'm some kind of astral ninja, I think that was coincidental. whee  

[TeaDidikai]

Ah. See- I consider shielding and masking to be different.

Different tools. And there's a reason I don't tend to go with the whole "Protective light" and leave it there. After all, things can pass through light. The additional "construction" used for shielding seems to work better.  

[Daffodil the Destroyer]

Do you know of any good exercises to just practice visualisation itself? Every time I have tried, I just can't seem to make myself 'see' what I'm supposed to be. I can kind of feel what I'm going for, but the visual aspect of it generally doesn't work too well. Or can it still work if you 'feel' instead of 'see'?  

[Maze]

Well, I know a bit about camouflage from tracking and stuff, but I was wondering if that could be used as an extra aid. Generally, lack of motion and/or sound + broken line of sight (i.e. if your shape is broken up because you're sitting behind a brush, for instance) goes a long way to camouflaging yourself. 3nodding

(It also helps that deer are notoriously short-sighted. XD)

Can you mask and shield at the same time? I don't think it's probably an impossibility, but it might require more attention, maybe? Of course, practice makes perfection look easy, I suppose.

Can you mask scents with shields like this too? I'm not sure of this one, but if you can't, can you keep people (hah, dogs'd be neat too, but let's start simple. XD) from consciously noticing your scent?

I guess it might not really come up in practice a lot, though.. But if you know, I'd like to know. 3nodding